While many of us tend to use time as the catalyst for things to come to fruition in some form or another, I believe that it is only part of the puzzle. For a band making their way through a career one album at a time, precision and purpose are as equal as time given that without either of them, your work can all too easily fall apart in a way that leaves the listener feeling as though more could have been done. Plenty of bands fail to take all of that into account, but exceptions like Devil Master have all but become experts at delivering on that front with their forthcoming record taking it and their sound to the next level.
It has been four long years since we last heard from Devil Master. Their last record from 2022, “Ecstasies of Never Ending Night”, saw the Philadelphian quartet take on the more psychedelic side of their distinct take on black metal, yet it remains clear even unto today that Devil Master still had many more tricks up their sleeves. However, I would not judge anyone for thinking that four years of relative silence would be a lot to put forth but six new tracks clocking in a runtime of just over twenty minutes. That doesn’t seem like a lot by any stretch of the imagination. However, I implore anyone and everyone who found even slight enjoyment to inspect “Bloody Dreams” for it is the culmination of everything Devil Master has embodied up to this point, almost certainly one of the most electrifying creations I’ve heard in 2026, and the ferocious injection of darkness that we all need in our lives.
Delivering on the promise of that gorgeously haunting cover art, it’s right out of the gate that “Bloody Dreams” makes itself known as a tour de force of debauchery and blaspheming madness that Devil Master is the perfect vessel for. Six tracks may not seem like a lot, and by many measures it isn’t, but what “Bloody Dreams” lacks in quantity, it more than delivers when it comes to raw ferocity and overwhelming sense of nastiness that adorns every step of the record much like cobwebs on a dank, forgotten crypt. There’s true magic interwoven into the very fabric of the record with the slick songwriting as intoxicating as they are unrelenting for their ferocity, making a massive show in as little as two minutes to make the record as fiery as it is captivating without missing an opportunity to inject some seductive mischief into the work. Allowing for a gothic atmosphere to be draped across the whole of the record, it’s in their psychedelic-tinged, punk-laced form of black metal that Devil Master feels more locked in than ever before with every given moment of the record delivering on all fronts even throughout the 10-minute finale that sees Devil Master further embrace their psychedelic tendencies.
Separate, all these elements already make Devil Master nothing to take lightly. However, when properly brought together in such a form that’s as powerful and potent as what we bear witness to throughout the entirety of “Bloody Dreams”, we’re given a performance that is no less than devilish in essence, pun fully intended. Devil Master has been on the rise since before its signing to the reputable Relapse Records eight years ago, yet it is here that I fully believe Devil Master has climbed to its furthest, most undeniable height yet.
The night beckons the very arrival of this band with the clouds darkening merely at their presence. “Bloody Dreams” is the soundtrack to the terror beyond our dreams with Devil Master the hand that will reap this world before it’s finally given to damnation and necrotic sorcery the likes of which only rare bands can deliver in such overwhelming quality.
“Bloody Dreams” releases on September 4th via Relapse Records!
LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Bloody Dreams” on Bandcamp here.
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